Cloverdale coach reacts to loss of job

Wednesday, June 11, 2008
COOK

CLOVERDALE -- The Cloverdale Community School Board shocked observers in the meeting and around the community Monday night, when it voted 5-2 against renewing Bruce Cook's contract as varsity girls' basketball coach.

The news came as a surprise to Cook, as he was coaching his team in a summer league game at Cascade while the meeting took place. He found out through a phone call on the way back from the game.

But the coach wasn't the only one surprised. His teams have amassed a 54-51 record as well as county and conference championships.

"I'm really proud of what the girls have done over the last five years," Cook told the BannerGraphic Tuesday evening. "I think we've done a pretty good job with two county championships. We tied for a conference championship a year ago. I thought that was really big."

Before 2006, the Clovers had not won any county or conference championships in program history.

"I'm very disappointed. I'm very hurt at the way things were taken care of," Cook said.

CHS principal Sonny Stoltz, who had no part in the decision not to renew Cook's contract, described the cause of the split as a difference of philosophies.

"Last night the board voted to take a different route with the girls' basketball program," Stoltz said. "They were interested in, maybe, a different approach with the philosophy of the lower levels.

"Last night they came together and enough of them decided it was time for a change," he continued. "We've had some success so it's really kind of hard for some people to understand. I think the philosophy of what we were doing and what they wanted were two opposite things at this time."

Board members Tony Hacker, Bobbi Nees, Linda Mann, Donna Fidler and Pamelia Hepfer all voted against Cook's retention. Dave Brinkman and Jim Sharp voted in favor of Cook.

Phone messages left for five of the seven board members, as well as Superintendent Carrie Milner, were not returned on Tuesday evening.

Stoltz, who preceded Cook as varsity girls' coach, was extremely complimentary of the coach and the time he has devoted to CHS basketball.

"Bruce has been very loyal to Cloverdale High School. He's given a lot the last 10 to 12 years to girls' basketball," Stoltz said. "I know he would like to continue coaching, but obviously philosophies were a little different at this time."

Cook remains employed at Cloverdale Middle School as a sixth grade teacher. While the former coach expressed his disappointment, he also chose to focus on positive points of his five years at the helm.

"I wouldn't change anything and that's one thing that Coach (Sam) Brown and Coach (Curt) Cummings and I have said from the start, that we wanted to do things our way. If this kind of thing happened, at least we would know that we did things the way we wanted to do it," Cook said.

Brown and Cummings were not retained as assistant coaches.

Cook said he was told the decision was based on his handling of the lower levels of the program and "fundamentals." Given Cummings' track record at the junior varsity level, he did not understand this.

"There was concern about our fundamentals and some of the things we've done. But Curt Cummings has been a very good assistant coach for us over the last 10 years and he's won four of the last five county JV tournaments. I think he's done a very nice job doing that," Cook said.

He said the reasons remain unclear to him.

"Never have I really been given a reason why it happened," Cook said. "They say something about the direction. They say something about the fundamentals."

The coach did not seem to expect further answers, as he said there had been no communication from the board leading up to this decision.

"Nobody every came and talked to me, as far as a board member, to ever try and get any answers to any questions," he said. "We practice every morning at 7 o'clock and we play every Monday and Wednesday over at Cascade, so I'm pretty accessible if anyone wants to get a hold of me and meet with me. But that was never done."

At the same time, though, Cook said he understands the way things work. Coaches are retained on a year-by-year basis, and these things are part of life.

"I think with any coach it's inevitable that it's going to happen, sooner or later. At least we felt like we were OK with the way things had gone," he said.

Cook is trying to carry out of this experienced the same things he stressed to his players as a coach -- positivism and class.

"I always tell the girls when we get beat -- and when we win -- 'There's no substitute for class.' I think that's very important," Cook said. "If there were two things we always talked about, it was to run a class program and to always look for the positive.

"In the end, I think we got two things accomplished. We won, and we had some great memories when it was over," Cook continued. "Life will go on. In three months, it will be something else, but it's pretty important to me right now."

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  • Why act like this meeting was held in a backroom at a secret location?Coach knows how a Board meeting is held,so does Mr.Stoltz. It was renewal time for coaches and as w/any other season/year,ect,several coaches are looked at and decisions made. Evidently this staff was decided against retaining.To act like it was some big plotted scam to get them is rediculous.To see Mr.Stoltz throw the Board under the bus in paper is amazing. He cant wash his hands of this as if he had no idea it was coming. He himself has said for years that Coach needs to turn things around and that he hated the idea of having to dismiss him. A few of us have heard him say that on more than one occasion. How does the JV win all those games and then not as varsity? Again, one good wave of dominate players was the difference,not a sudden improvement in coaching! Coach was hardly accessible, refused any suggestions and ran the program like he said,"his way" Well,it cost him. Many in the community have long been waiting for a change and respect the Board for making them. Even one of the members that voted FOR retaining Mr.Cook has been heard very often throwing coach under the bus,saying "this guy has to go". Curious why what he says away from the board is different AT the Board. He did exactly the same thing w/the dismissal of longtime football coach a couple years ago. No one in the community wanted that coach gone like this particular board member did. But when it came time to dismiss.this member acted as if he had nothing to do w/it. Oh well,Cloverdale politics at its finest...

    -- Posted by honestyisbestpolicy on Wed, Jun 11, 2008, at 6:37 AM
  • It is remarkable that these school board members would even think they could judge how fundamentals are taught. Jim Sharpe is the only one with a clue about this. It is very sad. Great job coach, just consider the sources.

    Only coaches with talent win - some do not win win with it. You obviously won. Another loss for Putnam County sports.

    -- Posted by justasking on Wed, Jun 11, 2008, at 9:48 AM
  • In my opinion the board was not informed to make an educated decision although they thought they might have been. This action is the result of one particular board member who ironically has kids moving into the high school program and couldn't even build his own team last year. All I ask is that the board reconsider. If they actually do care about the program they'll interview more than one of their own. I would encourage the board to talk to some people who are actually involved in the program. Listen to kids, the parents, other coaches. Get the whole story not just half. I believe it was last year that OV's coach was dismissed and he was lucky enough to have the support of his community and get reinstated. Now it's time to support Coach Cook. No need to be afraid of the big bad wolf, let's stand together and make a difference! Do the right thing!

    -- Posted by LAD on Wed, Jun 11, 2008, at 10:19 AM
  • Let's all get our heads out of the sand here. This another black eye for the whole Cloverdale Community. Whether or not Coach Cook is a great fundamental teacher of the game or not this is just another example of personal agenda's being executed in the community. When you have a school board member who has said publically many times about "He will clean this school up" when in fact he is the loose cannon you have a recipe for this kind of reckless decisions. It would take alot of ink and paper to list all the coaches that have been fired or removed from Cloverdale and went on to have very successful programs. Cloverdale "politics" have become the laughing matter of the county and it's things like this that fuel the fire. If it smells like a disgruntled parent, if it walks like a ego hungry parent and if it's only goal is to get rid of athletic coaches that don't cater to his ideals and methods it must be a Cloverdale School Board Member.

    -- Posted by TiredofThisTown on Wed, Jun 11, 2008, at 10:57 AM
  • Coach Bruce Cook had managed to establish one of the best programs at the Cloverdale Schools. If you question this,check the records, and then talk to past players that he coached! Cooks philosophy; play hard, play fair, be honest, and give it your best shot.Win or loose enjoy the moment.I can find no fault in this philosophy! Cookie is not only a good coach, but also a good man. He will be fine! The girls program will suffer. "Oh well, Life goes on!"

    -- Posted by jbraney on Wed, Jun 11, 2008, at 1:29 PM
  • I think the school board handled the entire situation with lack of respect for the three coaches. Although all votes have to be done in a public meeting, the decision was probably made before the meeting ever began.

    These coaches deserved a heads up.

    I'm really unclear as to what Mr.Stoltz is trying to convey.

    And just how many board members actually attended any girls bbgames? They get free admission to all home games.

    -- Posted by captain crunch on Wed, Jun 11, 2008, at 2:48 PM
  • "embarsement"????????

    -- Posted by whatweretheythinking on Wed, Jun 11, 2008, at 7:48 PM
  • This is Kristin McCammon and Kayla Shepherd of the Cloverdale Varsity Girls Basketball Team and we have played basketball under Coach Cook, Coach Brown, and Coach Cummings for our entire high school careers. They are and have been GREAT coaches and incredible influences on our lives from day one. We believe it is absurd for a group of strangers to dictate our team when they aren't involved in it whatsoever. They're not at our practices, rarely are they at our games, and they have no clue about the relationships that have been built between coach and player. We would like the school board to reconsider their decision and rehire our head coach. We are the players, and we feel that we should be able to have some input on when our coaches come and go. The board has complained about the amount of time that Coach Cook spends with the younger group of girls. In reality, Coach Cook doesn't even get to choose the people who coach the girls who will soon be in his high school programs, those coaches are placed in those positions by the middle school A.D. If the school board expects the future of girls basketball to be overly amazing, then Coach Cook should be able to choose the right coaches to get the middle school girls ready to play at the high school level. Coach Cook has been the most successful coach in the history of Cloverdale Girls Basketball. Two county championships and a conference title explains it all. Cloverdale Girls Basketball's success is just starting to bloom, so why mow down the flower? (We love you Cook!!!)

    -- Posted by angryplayers on Wed, Jun 11, 2008, at 9:04 PM
  • Hey Chef,

    Join the club. No one ever knows what Stoltz is trying to convey. He has his own agenda. Known for not acting on things he says or changing things he says. He was nice enough to tell the team they no longer had a coach and then drive away. Hope they all had cars, phones or not far to walk.

    -- Posted by Sportfan on Thu, Jun 12, 2008, at 5:57 AM
  • What needs to be done is to put the decision in the hands of the athletic director, not a group indiviuals who have a very limited understanding of the game of basketball. The sole decision to hire and fire a coach should rest with the athletic director. Sadly,the kids pay the price for adults making ignorannt and political decisions they never should have been allowed to make in the first place.

    -- Posted by image77 on Thu, Jun 12, 2008, at 10:54 AM
  • Interesting.

    No wonder Cloverdale is the only town in Indiana located on an interstate highway that cannot grow. Who would what to come there, work hard, succeed and have something like this happen to him.

    "Fundamentals?" I would defy any of the five school board members to name five fundamentals of basketball they are concerned with.

    No. This was political, not for the kids.

    Great job Coach! I'm sure there are other schools that would appreciate class and a winning team. Obviously the school board appreciates neither.

    -- Posted by FAW on Thu, Jun 12, 2008, at 11:11 AM
  • My name is Allie Franklin and I am a senior at Cloverdale High School. This will be my fourth year playing under Coach Cook and his Coaching Staff. My freshman year I was undecided as to whether I was going to play basketball but Coach Cook came to me and explained why it was important to both him and I that I play. This goes to show how caring of a coach he is. I have never felt more safe with a coach than with Coach Cook, he is very protective of all of us and makes sure that we never get into trouble, he looks out for us just as we are doing for him now. It is not fair to take his position away and we won't stand for it. He deserves to be our coach and has earned his spot on both our team and in our hearts. I LOVE you Cook!!!

    -- Posted by LAD on Thu, Jun 12, 2008, at 12:12 PM
  • Wasn't the vote 5 to 2? It doesn't sound like one board member is controlling the board considering the ones that voted to terminate the coaches are all capable of making their own decisions. Isn't that why they were elected because we trust their decisions to lead the school system. If you would read the article with an open mind it may be easier to understand what Mr. Stoltz was saying.

    -- Posted by familycounts on Thu, Jun 12, 2008, at 2:09 PM
  • This should have been a decision made by the AD. If there was not a recommendation by him (I'm told there wasn't) this should have never happened. This was clearly a bad move on the school board.

    Philosophies????????? I don't get it.

    They do have coaches at the middle school to help prepare the girls for high school ball. I believe one of the school board members actually held one of those positions. Since becoming elected, he has been pretty vocal on his dislikes with leadership roles such as this.

    -- Posted by captain crunch on Thu, Jun 12, 2008, at 3:17 PM
  • Coaches at Cloverdale are hardly ever kept for more than 3 years. The last one we had for any length of time was Coach Tucker. No one gets the chance to really get anything going until they're booted out. I wonder what would happen if they made suggestions to the coaches during their evaluations about how to improve the program and give coaches time to implement those things if someone could keep their coaching job for more than 3 years. ???? Probably never occured to them. I wonder if they consider how they are messing with peoples lives when they "secretly" fire the coaches. There is never any indication that they could be terminated during their evaluation...and then, it just happens. Amazing. It is someone's life they are toying with and it's not very funny. The old saying goes, "What goes around, comes around." We can only wait and see. And hope... But coaches beware...YOU'RE NEXT!!!!!!!!

    -- Posted by jcrum on Thu, Jun 12, 2008, at 3:31 PM
  • You are right. It should be the AD's decision.

    But Cloverdale doesn't have an AD right now, does it? Rady is still the basketball coach, but not the AD.

    I suppose that made it even easier for the school board to push its own agenda.

    -- Posted by Sour Grapes on Thu, Jun 12, 2008, at 3:39 PM
  • You think this is controversial?

    Wait until the school starts counting the dollars it takes to fuel the school buses to take the teams to the games. Will they do what Greencastle is doing and pass the cost along to the kids' families? Or will they try to get the Boosters to cough up their concession money for the gas? Will they allow the parents to actually take their own kids to the games, since many of them go anyway?

    Not a good time to be an Athletic Director and have to deal with that almost certain upcoming problem.

    -- Posted by South of 40 on Thu, Jun 12, 2008, at 9:16 PM
  • Coach Rady is the AD, but Stoltz has been doing the evaluating and recommending...

    -- Posted by jcrum on Fri, Jun 13, 2008, at 7:20 AM
  • Didn't Rady resign from the AD position?

    -- Posted by captain crunch on Fri, Jun 13, 2008, at 8:49 AM
  • In the great scheme of things, none of this really matters.

    -- Posted by whatweretheythinking on Sat, Jun 14, 2008, at 7:28 AM
  • I think Coach Rady did resign as AD.

    And, yes, in the great scheme of things this really does matter because it won't stop here.

    -- Posted by jcrum on Sat, Jun 14, 2008, at 8:54 AM
  • I was thinking in the GREATER scheme of things. Coaches come and coaches go. That's to be expected. Mr. Cook is a good teacher and he still has a job as a teacher. The students still have the opportunity to participate in athletics if they choose to do so. The rains have stopped for the moment. The flood waters are receding. Be thankful for what you have.

    -- Posted by whatweretheythinking on Sat, Jun 14, 2008, at 2:38 PM
  • I do not know Coach Cook or Coach Brown, but their record speaks for itself. I do know Coach Cummings and respect him for the time, dedication, and values he has passed on to the players as well as other Cloverdale sports. It appears Coach Cook and Coach Brown are cut from the same mold. Congratulations to all 3 of you for a job well done and with class. This action was clearly accomplished without class and the board should be ashamed of themselves for treating people this way.

    jcrum is right, "in the great scheme of things this really does matter because it won't stop here."

    If any of the board members have any kids in or coming into Cloverdale sports, I hope the kids are not held liable for the actions of their parents.

    -- Posted by gingb2 on Sat, Jun 14, 2008, at 9:52 PM
  • Their record is 54-51. In the real world, that's not a passing grade.

    -- Posted by whatweretheythinking on Sun, Jun 15, 2008, at 7:26 AM
  • deepthoughts did you really need to post a comment about the record not being that great?

    I think you are missing the point here. These kids do have feelings in their high school athletic career. Most of them will probably never play basketball again after they graduate but right now in their lives it is something they hold close. Yes things could be worse but also these kids could be out causing trouble instead of playing ball for a man that truely cares about them.

    I am a former athlete from cloverdale myself and I know what these girls are feeling and I am sorry for them. All I can say is girls just keep plugging away and don't worry the things that coach Cook has taught you will be with you for years to come. I can say thanks to coach Hoffa for mine.

    -- Posted by curious34 on Mon, Jun 16, 2008, at 1:02 PM
  • Why can't people just be honest? There is no way on God's green earth Coach Cook was fired due to "lack of fundamentals" or "his dealings with lower levels". It's always Playing Time of certain kids and the community experts' disagreement with strategy. Reading the comments from the players really breaks my heart. Why do we have interscholastic sports anyway? To teach life lessons. To learn how to be a member of a team. To learn how to win and lose with dignity. It seems that Coach Cook was doing all of these things. PLUS, they were winning on top of that! What else should a community like Cloverdale expect? They aren't going to Conseco Fieldhouse every year for crying out loud. The kids should be taught the game, play hard and represent the community in a positive fashion.

    Was this happening? It seems like it was.

    -- Posted by Prophet on Mon, Jun 16, 2008, at 8:37 PM
  • deepthoughts, you're right. None of this does matter in the grand scheme of things.

    With that in mind, why are you wasting your time posting comments about it? Shouldn't you be somewhere pondering the great truths of the universe?

    -- Posted by Sour Grapes on Mon, Jun 16, 2008, at 11:45 PM
  • Is the cloverdale school board appointed or elected? If it's elected, that's your problem.

    -- Posted by localman on Tue, Jun 17, 2008, at 7:28 PM
  • Sour Grapes, you're absolutely right. I will never blog again, and perhaps others should take your advice also.

    -- Posted by whatweretheythinking on Tue, Jun 17, 2008, at 7:37 PM
  • Curious? Other than Mr. Rady, has any replacement coach ever done better than the fired coach?

    -- Posted by glasshouse on Thu, Jun 19, 2008, at 8:53 AM
  • gingb2,

    I think you are missing the ironic point of the firing..... THERE is a school board member whose daughter is a "Up an coming" star which is the reason a certain school board member wants the coaching job. I don't think the team would hold it against her, but they will her dad. Several junior high girls did not play last year because he was the coach and they will probably not play in high school if he is the coach.

    -- Posted by glasshouse on Thu, Jun 19, 2008, at 2:13 PM
  • I am so sick of people not understanding. I hear, "they were good in Jr. High, what happened?" Or, "they won as a JV team, what happened?" Do you understand that the previous year JV team may not be competing against the same kids the next year. Take North Put for example, they return everybody next year. They should have a very good JV team because there is no room for the good 9th or 10th graders on the varsity. Now look at Cascade two years ago their JV was pretty good they had 5 seniors, won a sectional. Now that good JV team was varsity last year and only won 6 games. Why because not too many team they played graduated any kids so they were playing a second year varsity team. I am not sure I can explain that clear enough for some of you. I was also surprised that each year the coaches are revoted on. Most school only vote if there is a problem. At Plainfield, if a head coach is not notified by the end of May about his coaching position he is to continue coaching. Voting on a coach every year just seems backwards. If I am hearing this right, Cloverdale will need several coaches, and an AD. With a board member who has a personal agenda. WHo would want to apply there?

    -- Posted by harvey on Fri, Jun 20, 2008, at 8:34 AM
  • I wouldnt say coach Rady "did better" I would say a leader like Chase Haltom, Kyle mcCammon whose 3 pt range is when he enters the gym and the skills of Christan Cheatam and others is what won basketball games. It would have been hard for even Sonny Stoltz or Tony Hacker to mess that up.

    -- Posted by Sportfan on Fri, Jun 20, 2008, at 9:17 AM
  • Sportfan, For someone with so much basketball knowledge you should know Coach Rady is a member of the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame, and has the most wins of any active coach in the state. To say he only won because of the players he has had at Cloverdale is ridiculous. Chris Cheatham was cut and did not play until Coach Rady developed him into the player he became. Just ask Chase and Kyle what they think of Coach Rady. They will be the first to tell you he made this group great winners. So Mr. Expert be glad these students have the opportunity to play for a great coach, and don't try to get side tracked on the discussion of a poor board decision of firing the girls' coach. The wins of other coaches isn't not even part of this decision.

    -- Posted by clover23 on Fri, Jun 20, 2008, at 9:57 AM
  • Clover 23,

    i responded to the last message. The question posed "Other than Mr. Rady, has any replacement coach ever done better than the fired coach?' We have had a lot of talent go through Cloverdale. And there were just as many lives touched for the negative by Rady as his hall of fame record.And I disagree about Christian. Hope you support the new girls coach!

    -- Posted by Sportfan on Fri, Jun 20, 2008, at 12:54 PM
  • I could be wrong on the whole idea here, but isn't Brinkman the president of the school board? I thought the president only votes to break a tie when it is done correctly? According to the article it shows him voting for renewal. Also if I read one of the other articles correctly the other day, isn't he the one that made the initial motion? I thought the president could not make the motion like that? I could be wrong though.

    -- Posted by UpInDaAir on Mon, Jun 23, 2008, at 6:59 PM
  • Glasshouse,

    I'm pretty sure that the new coach will have to be a teacher or do the "damon bailey" rule and have to achieve that teaching liscense in a timely manner.People need to be careful what they say.They also should check their info before putting it in black and white.(See the difference between "lible" and "slander") It was a 5-2 vote,not just ONE person as many are saying. Recently Cloverdale has replaced a softball coach that wasnt doing the job well,a football coach that wasnt gettin it done well and even the baseball coach must have feltthe need to quit after yet another not so good year. Notice the trend? Coaches with bad records,unhealthy programs are being replaced. Thats the nature of these things.Study the records,the opponents record,watch whats being done at the lower levels,its all there. This board did what the Principal/AD hasnt had the strength to do.Its too bad they have to do the unpleasant task for them. They voted 5-2 and like many can attest to,one of the voters saying yes to renewal has often been heard saying the opposite while off record. This board did what needed done,period. If the next coach has the same record and efforts in building a program than they too need changed.No person on that board will coach at the high school as a head coach.Period. Slinging mud on undeserving people and their families is wrong.

    -- Posted by honestyisbestpolicy on Tue, Jun 24, 2008, at 11:27 AM
  • The new coach does not have to be a teacher, the job is open to any "qualified" applicant. There are several petitions going around town from the girls on the team asking the board to re-hire Coach Cook for the upcoming season. When the board members realize the support that the Coach has within the community, with the parents and with the players (not to mention the principal and superintendent), they need to reconsider the reasoning they used to vote the way they did the first time around and change their vote to make things right.

    -- Posted by cloverfan2008 on Tue, Jun 24, 2008, at 2:16 PM
  • What is so sad about this whole ordeal? Every one seems more concerned about "sports" and the "coaches", NOT about good "teachers" and "education".

    -- Posted by sad_but_true on Tue, Jun 24, 2008, at 6:31 PM
  • I am gonig to comment to several different people:

    1. Clovertucky: you mention how can all the jv and jr high teams have such good records then not win at the high school level. Are you serious? In Jr high it is same grade vs. same grade. In high school you could potentially have a 19 year old guarding a 14 year. Just a little different, huh? Now to the JV team. Most of the good JV teams in high school sports are good because the kids ahead of them aregood and there is no room for the new kids on the varsity and if a team is not that way it is the otherside, where you have a varsity team that has to pull everyone up meaning the JV is bad. Look at some of the local teams. South Put JV not real strong because they pulled up a bunch of kids, North Put the same way, Cloverdale JV pretty good because varsity was loaded, Cascade Varsity was returning Jr's and Soph's so their JV lost two games because none of those kids got moved up. YOU CANNOT COMPARE JV AND JR HIGH SUCCESS WITH VARSITY SUCCESS.

    2. My understanding on the baseball coach is that he resigned at the meeting after seeing how the vote went on Cook. I will tell you what I umped a game for Cloverdale and Billy Martin Could not have made that team a winner. Sometimes you have to look at the talent.

    Clover23: For every kid that plays for a coach there is someone that did not play for that same coach. Rady is an excellent coach, but with the players he had he should have won. Someone brought up records and fundamentals and coaching in general. In 04-05 Rady went 19-4 lost first game of sectional, won county, no conference; 05-06 17-5 lost second game of sectional, no county, conference co-champs, 06-07 18-7 no county, no conference, won sectional, 07-08 8-14 won none of the above. It appears to me that his teams are on a downward slide. Let's look at Cook. 04-05 7-14 won nothing, 05-06 8-13 won nothing, 06-07 13-8 won county and tied for conference, 07-08 15-6 won county. Looks like he has steadily improved. Isn't that what you want a coach to do. The improving coach is out of a job and the declining team still has their coach. Make sense? Now I do not think Rady should be fired either, but neither should Cook.

    SAD_but_True: I do not believe Cook's teaching/education abilty is in question. One more reason he should not be fired. He is doing the job in the classroom and his teams are doing the job on the court. My God, who is running Cloverdale, Steinbrenner?

    Finally, Sports prepares a person for life. You will play for someone you may not like, you will play with people you do not like, you may not always get the playing time you feel you deserve, yet you have to be able to deal with these things to be part of that team. Isn't the real world that way. You will work for a boss you do not like at some point, with people you do not like, and you may not get the propmotion that you felt you should have gotten. You have to deal with it or you will be jobless. I know Coach Cook has instilled this type of thinking into his teams and he is thought highly of. He has improved, the players like him (i am sure some don't), same with the parents, he is respectful of other teams and coaches. If there is any chance that this board member is responsible for this. There should be a petition to have him removed. He works for the people and if the people want Cook that is what should happen.

    And to the person wanting to throw around the slander and liable. Notice the spelling LIABLE

    -- Posted by harvey on Wed, Jun 25, 2008, at 12:02 AM
  • Harvey,

    First thing,sorry I rushed through the spelling,hope it didnt retard your ability to read the point.Since this is just a forum,sometimes I rush,sometimes I use computer slang(example:ur instead of your)ect. Lets not act like junior high kids and correct spelling when ur(your) point is being made. It doesnt add much to the conversation.Secondly,yes in high school,kids are pooled up/down.My point would be that building a program would keep you from having good classes in back to back classes,good team records in most grades,yet pool them as varsity teams and on average have losing records. How does 5 or 6 classes in a row kick their peers butt as younger girls then be grouped in a crteam of the crop group by the varsity coach and only beat 7 teams w/winning records in 105 games? The baseball coach has resigned twice now,having never won much. He wont be missed other than he was very nice.I talked to 3 players at sectional and they said all they did was screw around at practice. They said they didnt FIND another field to practice on in place of their closed field. Sure they were young but do have talent. The kids didnt believe the effort from coach was much. So after 2 resignations and all that losing a new direction is welcomed. As far as comparing boys/girls..jv/varsity,ect,anyone w/any sports intell will tell ya that talent at the H.S. level is cyclic,good classes of athletes and bad classes. The difference is between those strong classes,good coaches stilldo well because there IS a "program" and its working. Lastly,this vote was the effort of the whole board,ALL coaches for that season were voted on. The Board voted 5-2 not to renew.It was the work of the 7 members,5 of whom said no. Yes,this board is "OF" the people,elected BY the people and they did what they were elected to do...AS A WHOLE BOARD,not one member.They voted yes to most other coaches,no one is crying about that,so why cant they vote no on one? The MAJORITY did,nuff said.By the way,you spelled promotion wrong at the end of your post....lol,kiddin of course...Go Green! Looking for better days.

    -- Posted by honestyisbestpolicy on Wed, Jun 25, 2008, at 9:03 PM
  • To Harvey... I have no problem with Mr. Cook as a teacher or coach.............This whole thing makes me sick because ALL 4 county schools seem to care about SPORTS more than EDUCATION!!! I know someone who is trying to get a job as a teacher.........They will not know if they got the job UNTIL the COACHING positions are filled.........THAT is what I think is wrong :(

    -- Posted by sad_but_true on Wed, Jun 25, 2008, at 10:06 PM
  • Coaching is teaching. And the kids in sports not only learn to be a team player and how to handle win/loss, disagreement among team/staff, independence etc. But they also learn to manage time, responsibility, leadership, make the grade to stay on team (athletic and academic) and how to handle the teachers that hate sports and assign homework only on game night. What Cloverdale fails to teach is how to play for ANYBODY.

    -- Posted by Sportfan on Thu, Jun 26, 2008, at 3:24 AM
  • I don't think it's just Cloverdale. Many schools in the US. just care about sports. Look at all the money that sports generate. But it will come back to haunt us. Kids today have to learn a lot, and they can run circles around a lot of adults on things like computers and such. But more and more kids are rude, and would not be able to survive without computers to do all the work for them. Alot of what todays, sports are teaching the youth is to be over confident and show off. Sports are not what they used to be back in even the 70's and 80's where it was for fun. It's all about winning and losing. Who is good and who is bad. Just basic improvement should be satisfactory. But a lot of times it's about who you know, and who has the famous family name. Each kid doesn't get an equal shot. It's very bias. But as long as money is involved, or power politics it will never change. Some people still have old values, and are raising your kids to be respectful. Thank-you!! Others think just because their child is respectful around them they always are. Right keep thinking what you want, but we all know the truth. The bigger problem will come with gas prices skyrocketing and expected to hit $7.00 a gallon, and food prices following. Our country won't be what it is even today in a few years. We are going to go back to ways that we thought we were beyond just to survive. It's going to be the downfall of America the way we currently know it. These kids are in for a rude of awaking. Sports are fun, and do make for good entertainment. But academics should be first, and they are not. If you think they are then you are very out of the loop, or your just in denial. It's the parent's job to know when it's time to pull your kid, and crack open the books. Not the schools job, if you don't like the way things are run, then pull your kid from the program, and raise them the way you think is right. More then likely that will be better anyways, and might even take a lot of pressure of that kid to be perfect. Why do you think Teenage suicides, and depression are so great. Because kids have to much pressure to impress everyone else, and have way to much going on in life. Sports should all be outside of school. Held like they used to be in programs not related to school, so kids can separate them from their school life. But that will never happen, it makes the schools to much money, and gives people power kicks.

    -- Posted by Talkergirl on Mon, Jun 30, 2008, at 12:50 AM
  • I sure hope that the community shows up in force at the next school board meeting. Not just for the basketball program but to show the board that they are elected members and are suppose to be reflecting the voice of the people who voted them into that position. Is there a petition floating around anywhere? I feel sorry for the current players that have to deal with all this and I hope that lessons have been learned however this is Cloverdale and somehow I am sure nothing has been learned. The town board created a black eye for the our town now it appears the school board has knocked us out.

    -- Posted by TiredofThisTown on Mon, Jun 30, 2008, at 7:57 PM
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